Six of the best cookery books from Yorkshire

PUBLISHED: 19:22 15 February 2015 | UPDATED: 13:24 24 October 2015

Everyone needs the aid of a good cookbook from time to time

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Is there a cookery book that has changed your life? Personally, I'll always be grateful to Rick Stein's India which taught me how to — finally — cook a halfway decent, authentic curry, writes Tony Greenway.

And, of course, I love any cookbook by Nigella because they’re so brilliantly produced. I could — and often do — stare at the pictures all day long (of the food, I mean). Have these books made me a good cook? No, I’m still rubbish. It turns out that timing isn’t only important in comedy. You need it in the kitchen too, and I don’t have it. Still, I may be a terrible cook but at least I’m enthusiastic, as I was saying to the kids just the other day as they scraped the burnt bits off their vegetable lasagne, and I put out a small fire. But there are some excellent Yorkshire cookery books. Here are six I chose earlier...

Cooking Up a Storm by Sam Stern (Walker Books)

This is a must-have, particularly if you’re a teen who needs help pretty sharpish to knock up a decent meal on a school night or to impress friends. But even if you’re an older cooking novice, Yorkshire-born Sam — who has contributed to Yorkshire Life many times in the past — will give you confidence in the kitchen, so it’s amazing to think that he published Cooking Up a Storm in 2005 when he was just 14. His latest book, Sam Stern’s Cookery Course: For Students in the Kitchen (Quadrille) is just as good and just as accessible.

James Martin: Fast Cooking (Quadrille)

Malton-born James Martin, presenter of Saturday Kitchen, once told me that he hadn’t read that many books, but that he’d written loads of them. His latest, Fast Cooking, first published in 2013, shows you how to prepare meals in minutes. Find out how to make everything from Chinese chilli beef to chocolate mouse with maple syrup and bananas, and still come up smiling.

The Sheffield Cookbook by Adelle Draper (Meze Publishing)

Live in Sheffield but don’t have this book on your shelf? What are you thinking? Actually, wherever you live, this is a nice one to have because it features recipes from Sheffield’s culinary community of producers, restaurants, farm shops and delis. Published last May, it’s available in food stores and restaurants across the city — or, if you still can’t find it, there’s always t’internet, as we say in Yorkshire.

The Henderson’s Relish Cookbook by Pamela Freeman

Staying in Sheffield, here’s a new book of recipes — plus art, music and literature — inspired by the city’s famous sauce. Published in November, it includes contributions from David Blunkett (a shepherd’s pie) and Nick Clegg (a pasta bake). Nice and spicy.

Cooking Apples (Ampleforth Abbey)

First written – get this – 32 years ago by Fr Edmund Hatton, Cooking Apples was long out of print. In 2013, however, it was updated and reprinted to include 100 fruity recipes which demonstrate that apples can be used in soups, salads, main courses, desserts and cakes. There’s also a section on how best to look after the apple tree in your own garden. Available from the Abbey Shop.

Loose Birds and Game (Face Publications)

The second book by Andrew Pern of the Star Inn at Harome, first published in 2010, after the success of his first, Black Pudding and Foie Gras. With a foreword by Michel Roux, Loose Birds and Game takes you behind the scenes of the Michelin-starred Star, and offers Pern’s perspective on poultry, game and fish. Lovely recipes, fabulous photography.